Big river (1995)    (video)

 

    F - Fm - C (2x)

 

    C                      F                   - C                      F

1.     Walking on cobble stone,        little bits of skin and bone,

Am                      Em               Dm     - G

    jumping on a tram car for a ride.

C                 F                 - C                       F

    I can remember then,       I was just a boy of ten,

Am                    Em                       Dm     - G

    hanging out along the old quayside.

 

F                      C                         Am                        F

    Now all the capstans and the cargo boats and stevadores are gone,

                               C                           D                 G                          C

    to where all the old ships go, but memories just like the seas live on.

C                             F                   - C                          F

    That was when coal was king,       the river was a living thing,

Am                          Em                 Dm     - G                   C      - F

    and I was just a boy but it was mine,         the coaly Tyne.

 

        G              C   F          Am                   Em                     Dm     - G

For this was a big river, I want you all to know that I was proud,

                   C  F             Am                 Em

this was a big river, but that was long ago,

                 Dm   - F                   C

that’s not now,        that’s not now.

 

   C                              F                - C                                    F

2.   My father was a working man,      he earned our living with his hands,

Am                              Em             Dm     - G

    he had to cross the river every day.

C                           F                - C                    F

    He picked up a union card,       out of the Neptune yard,

Am                 Em                    Dm     - G

    mouths to feed and bills to pay.

 

F                        C                     Am                     F

    Then came a time for him to sail across the seas and far away,

                   C                          D

    finally when that war was won,

                                 G                              C

    you brought him home and home he stayed.

C                          F                       - C                 F

    And when his days were done,        under a golden sun,

Am                                    Em                       Dm  - G                    C      - F

    you took him back to where he longed to be,        back to the sea.

 

                                                                              F     - Fm - C

+  CHORUS     +  F - Fm - C          +  That’s not now.

 

    C                                       F             - C                             F

3.      The Neptune was the last to go,        I heard it on my radio,

Am                                       Em                  Dm     - G

    and then they played the latest number one.

C                              F              - C                                     F

    But what do they do all day,      and what are they supposed to say ?

Am                    Em                Dm    - G

    What does a father tell his son ?

 

F                C                            Am                        F

    If you believe that there’s a bond between our future and our past,

                      C                      D                              G                       C

    try to hold on to what we had, we build them strong, we built to last.

C                             F                 - C                         F

    ‘Cause this is a mighty town,        it’s built upon solid ground,

Am                                Em                  Dm  - G                   C      - F

    and everything they tried so hard to kill,        we will rebuild.

 

        G              C   F          Am                   Em                       Dm     - G

For this was a big river, I want you all to know, I’m so very proud,

                   C   F             Am                 Em                  Dm     - G

this was a big, river, but that was long ago, that’s not now.

 

                          C          F             Am                   Em                    Dm

+  And this is a big, big, river, and in my heart I know it will rise again,

           G                     C

    the river will rise again !

 

(orig. = capo 4th)    (Jimmy Nail)